Susan Harthill

Partner

Susan Harthill represents employers in the full range of employment law and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters, with a focus on counseling, compliance, litigation, and audits and investigations. Susan advises employers on statutory and regulatory compliance and conducts trainings, including harassment and discrimination training. Before joining Morgan Lewis, Susan served as deputy solicitor for national operations at the US Department of Labor (DOL), where she oversaw the legal activities performed for all DOL programs in the National Office by attorneys in all 10 program divisions.

While at the DOL, Susan worked with the National Office divisions and the solicitor of labor to provide centralized legal services for all DOL agencies, including litigation and regulatory advice, and to coordinate with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), including the solicitor general’s office, on matters where the DOJ represented the DOL, including in cases before the US Supreme Court.

Prior to joining the DOL in 2014, Susan was a tenured law professor, and was formerly special counsel in the Washington, DC, headquarters of a large international law firm. As a law professor, she taught courses in employment law and employment discrimination, civil procedure, evidence, and trusts and estates.

Susan has published law review articles on ERISA, workplace bullying, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. She has frequently presented her work at national and international conferences, including a presentation on the topic of workplace bullying at the International Labor Organization. She also represented the solicitor of labor at selected speaking engagements while at the DOL.

Throughout her career Susan has been active in numerous pro bono matters and other service activities, including serving as a loaned associate from her law firm to the Legal Aid Society of Washington, DC, and serving a two-term appointment as a commissioner on the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission and a volunteer board membership for a domestic violence shelter in St. Johns County, Florida.

Awards and Affiliations

Member, Practice Group of the Year, Employment, Law360 (2019)

Recommended, Labor and employment: Workplace and employment counseling, The Legal 500 US (2019)